{"id":195869,"date":"2026-07-15T19:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/195869\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T19:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:59:31","slug":"latvia-sees-nearly-94-percent-of-irregular-crossings-via-belarus-in-first-half-of-july","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/195869\/","title":{"rendered":"Latvia sees nearly 94 percent of irregular crossings via Belarus in first half of July"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

July 15, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The neighboring European Union countries did not allow at least 1,369 undocumented third-country foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus in the first two weeks of July, according to Pozirk\u2019s<\/em> analysis of border guards\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia was the primary target after thwarting 1,284 attempts, followed by Poland with 51 attempts and Lithuania with 34 attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of irregular crossings climbed by 8.7 percent month on month but was nearly half the level recorded a year earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors have recorded 9,255 irregular crossings since the start of 2026, a significant decrease from the same period in 2025 when 23,894 attempts were reported. Latvia thwarted 8,069 attempts, Lithuania, 906 and Poland, 280.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people eager to cross into the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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